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The New England Patriots finally go fast in win over New Orleans Saints

Tom Brady

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (12) changes signals at the line in the first half of an NFL football game against the New Orleans Saints Sunday, Oct.13, 2013, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
(AP)

FOXBOROUGH – Tom Brady wants to go fast. He just hasn't had
the vehicle to do so this season, but it wasn't for a lack of trying.

The Patriots spent the first five weeks of the season locked
in the garage, trying to tune up the motor and get things running again. They
got around the block a few times, but would stall and sputter their way to the
finish line.

Sunday's 30-27 win over the New Orleans Saints was almost no
different. If Kenbrell Thompkins hadn't reeled in an 17-yard reception that
lifted the Patriots out of the depths of despair, this would be another week
filled with talk about the inefficiencies of the offense.

The focus would be on drops from Aaron Dobson, Julian
Edelman and Brandon Bolden on the third-to-last drive, and the next, which ended when
Brady threw an interception on a pass deep down the left sideline intended for
Julian Edelman.

Add injuries to Danny Amendola (head), cornerback Aqib
Talib (hip), linebacker Jerod Mayo (shoulder) and right guard Dan Connolly
(head) and the game may have been a total disaster if not for Thompkins.
But before things got ugly, the Patriots went fast, and for a few moments, it
was a thing of beauty.

There may have been no other choice. New Orleans Saints
defensive coordinator Rob Ryan is a master of disguise, and over the years he's
dialed up plenty of schemes that have confounded Bill Belichick, Brady and
the rest of the Patriots. The worst of those instances may have come in 2010,
when his so-called amoeba defense caught the Patriots by surprise and allowed
the Cleveland Browns to run away with a 34-14 win.

But in 2011, when Ryan was coaching with the Cowboys,
Belichick finally figured out how to beat his former pupil's defense: By never
huddling. After Brady was sacked twice and intercepted in the first quarter of
the game, the Patriots dialed up the speed, rarely going to huddle, which kept
the defense locked in its base formation. The Pats went no huddle on more than
50 percent of their plays and the end result was a 20-16 win.

On Sunday, despite going no huddle on fewer than 10 percent
of their plays through the first five weeks, Belichick dusted off that
blueprint and told Brady to press the accelerator. And after weeks of struggle, the Patriots
actually looked like the Patriots on three drives in the first half.

New England ran nine no-huddle plays on the first drive of
the game to score a field goal, and kept things dialed up on its third drive
when it ran five no-huddle plays to move 80 yards on nine plays, ending with a
Stevan Ridley touchdown. After forcing New Orleans to punt, it was more of the
same, as Brady directed five no-huddle plays to help the Pats move 69 yards
over 12 plays, ending with another Ridley touchdown to make it 17-7.

Brady was at his best during those three drives. After struggling through parts of the last five weeks, he
appeared at ease and comfortable with his receivers. During those
three drives, Brady was 9 for 10 for 97 yards operating without a huddle, and
finished the half 16 for 23 for 163 yards.

The key play during that stretch came on the drive that made
it 17-7. Brady was sacked on first down for a loss of eight and an incompletion
made it third and 18. The Saints generated solid pressure, but Brady averted
it, keeping the play alive, and found tight end Michael Hoomanawanui in the
flat for 19-yard gain. Hoomanawanui, playing in place of the
injured Rob Gronkowski, later had an 18-yard reception during the drive.

In a new wrinkle, Dobson started over Kenbrell Thompkins in
two-receiver sets, and seemed to take advantage. After dropping the first
pass of the game on a comeback route along the left sideline, Dobson caught
almost everything else thrown to him until his fourth-quarter drop, including
a pass deep down the right sideline for a 20-yard gain.

Everything wasn't perfect. The Patriots blew two
opportunities to score in the red zone, instead settling for field goals, the
most costly in the fourth quarter, which made it 23-17 and left the
door open for the Saints to take the lead.

But after five rough weeks, the Patriots finally sped things
up, and there's something positive to be taken from that.